BLUE RIDGE, FALLS COUNTY, TEXAS WEBPAGE

BLUE RIDGE BULLETIN BOARD

This is a work in progress. Send me your stories, photos and inquires and I'll add them to the webpage.

Leonard Kubiak

HISTORY OF BLUERIDGE, FALLS COUNTY, TEXAS

Texas Historical Marker

Historical Marker at the Blue Ridge Baptist Church

Blue Ridge Baptist Church

"Organized in 1859 by 11 charter members. Worship has been held regularly since. Z.N. Morrell and Judge R.E.B. Baylor were among the early missionaries holding services in the settler's log cabins.
George Harlan deeded 28 acres for the church, school and cemetery in 1873. The land is part of a grant given by Mexico in 1835 to his father, Doctor Isaiah Harlan.

The first church building also housed an early school.
Church has sponsored annual "May Day Singing" since 1887. Descendants still attend.

The third (present) sanctuary was build in 1908".

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1970

BLUE RIDGE HISTORY ACCORDING TO AN EARLY-DAY SETTLER

Blue Ridge is a small community just a few miles east of Reagan off ranch road 1771 in Falls County.

"My husband, Judge Walter Emmett Hunnicutt, was born June 11, 1865, and he passed away in December 1936. He was Judge of Falls County for fourteen years, at different times. He was the son of Winfield S. Hunnicutt, who came to Texas in 1849 and established his rural home in the Blue Ridge community where he continued to reside until his death in 1908. Mr. Scott Hunnicutt was a member of Company B, of Waller's battalion, General Hardeman's brigade of the Confederate Army. He was a native of Tennessee before coming to Texas.

"The pioneer record for large families was almost broken by Judge Hunnicutt's father and mother, above mentioned. There were seventeen children, my husband being among this number. I married Walter Hunnicutt on December 12, 1894. My maiden name was Miss Mattie Keyser and I was the daughter of W. D. Keyser a pioneer stockman and farmer, and business man of Merlin, Texas. My father and mother came to Texas from Alabama.

"Judge Walter Hunnicutt was reared near the place of his birth in Falls County and there his education began. He spent some time in Southwestern College at Georgetown, Texas, and two years in the school of Mr. Chamber's in Kossee. For two years after leaving his school work, he devoted his life to farming but was not content and a long cherished idea of joining the legal profession caused him to enter the office of Goodrich and Clarkson, one of the most noted firms of that day of the Brazos Valley. {Begin page no. 2}"Judge Hunnicutt was admitted to the bar at Marlin before Judge [Scott,?] being examined by Messrs Swan, Harlan and Boyles. Before he completed his preparation for the bar, he had the honor of being elected District Clerk of Falls County, and held this office for two years. He then began the practice of law in Marlin and pursued it for four years, then he was elected County Judge, and was re-elected at different times for this office, in all, serving fourteen years.

"He was Worshipful Master of the Masonic Lodge #152 at Marlin, and also a member of the [Moccabees?] and Woodmen of the World. For his church affiliations he was a Methodist. Our children are Emmett Jr., who resides with me and who married Miss Josephine Merriman of Lockport, New York, where he resided for twenty years before returning recently to our home in Marlin, where he is doing work for the government. Horace T., died in 1919, at the age of eighteen, these two boys were our only children.

["Before he completed his preparations for the bar, he had the honor of being elected District Clerk for Fall County and held this office for two years, then began the practice of law in Marlin and for four years followed his profession. Then he was elected County Judge; he served in this capacity for fourteen years.?]

"During Judge Hunnicutt's life as Judge there were many interesting things which happened in our county and town. He lived to see it grow from a small village to the present [??] where many come for the healing benefit of the Marlin hot water. Judge Hunnicutt died in December of 1936.

"I will try to tell you about some of the first families of the Blue Ridge community where Judge Hunnicutt's father settle in 1849, and the way they lived at that time. The Forbes family came to the {Begin page no. 3}[?] from Tenneessee. Dr. and Mrs. Robert Forbes arrived in the early fifties. His son, Dr. L. D. Forbes, graduated from the New Orleans school of medicine, and practiced both on the Ridge and in Marlin. The older Forbes built their home on the spot where Mrs. Forbes lives today. They built in the fifties, long before the Civil War. Aside from his practice of medicine, Mr. L. D. Forbes invented a mechanical cotton gin, where the feeders automatically carries the cotton to the gin-saws or units. Near the Forbes and Barclay homes there was located a mule-driven gin. This gin was across the road from the Swinnes place, owned by Bill [?] and later, by Ed Vann. It was moved down near Big Creek and used until discarded for a newer [?] model.

"Another early family to settle on the Ridge was the Barclay family whose [?] was known as the "Squire" and they lived in a log house on the spot a few hundred yards north of where Hancock's store stands today. Farther north east on the Ridge the Garretts lived. They came from Tenneessee about 1849. The old home, with some improvement, stands today, a silent reminder of those early days. The family history is one of [?], destiny and accomplishment. The original head of the family was Thomas Garrett. His children were Jasper, Mary Elizabeth, Cynthia Ann and Catherine, Jim, [?], Sarah, Tome and Rennie. All are linked with history and development of this section of the country.

"As we follow the Ridge in the location then of what is now Stranger, the next old home place is that of the Brothers family. Jesse Brothers with his wife and children came from Tenneesee to Texas in the late fifties. They brought their slaves with them. Like so many of their {Begin page no. 4}neighbors, they sought new fortunes in the land [?] their former fellow-[?], Sam Houston, and found a lot. They also sought relief from the troubled question of slavery; the Brothers family, with their slaves, camped under the big oak tree that stands today in the middle of the road as you approach the Ridge in the section now known as [?]. They settled near the Barclay family who kindly [???] stock for meat for the family. [?] men went as far as [?] County looking at the country; they returned to the Ridge an' bought land on the [?] hill overlooking Big Creek and began to build their homes. Grandpa Jesse Brothers served in the Civil [?], returned [?] on a furlough and died before the war ended. He left several sons, among them William, [?], and Jesse, Junior. His sons and grandsons followed farming for [?] occupation.

"[?] South, along the Ridge, lived [??], [?] son, Joel, was supposed to be the first official [??] in the community [????]. [?] is [?] by the older settlers [?] the [????] a quiet friendly old lady with a wealth of lore concerning early days of Texas. We came to this section in the early days with [??] family, her relatives. The old [?] log house is still standing, but has been covered with weather-boarding.

"One of Granny Moffett's daughters married Quinton [?]. Vann who farmed with [?] on the Little Brazos River. There are many descendants of the [?] family, whose head was William [?]. They came to the Ridge in an early day and William Erskine married Miss Mary Elizabeth Garrett. They built near the little church-school house where the present Methodist church is at Stranger. Frank [?] lives in the spacious old Erskine home in Stranger. {Begin page no. 5}"Still farther south-west, on the Ridge, is the old Eddins' home. John Eddins and family came to Texas from Alabama in 1860; and, after a short stay in Marlin, bought a farm lying close to Big Creek, in a valley between a ridge of hills. The farm now belongs to the Jesse Brothers' estate. Jasper Garrett persuaded Eddins to build his home up on the Ridge about the time the Civil War began. Eddins bought sufficient ground from the Garretts to build the home. Mr. Eddins and his sons had to walk a mile across the sandy ridge to get to his farm, leaving his wife and daughter, Kate to keep house.

"Near the Eddins home was the home of Hodge and also of Swinnes. And nor far away was the pioneer home of Allen Morrell, a son of the Baptist preacher, Rev. Z. N. Morrell. Two years ago, all that remained of the Morrell home, a heap of logs, was moved to the Falls County Old Settlers Association grounds and there were built into a log cabin in remembrance of those early pioneers. This old Morrell home stood on a spot later occupied by the home of Bill Fannin; then Grady Blair bought the place. It stood on top of the Ridge, overlooking Big Creek Valley and from it could be seen one of the most picturesque views in the county. For miles one could see the farms, dotting the countryside, with little spots of grass land and trees scattered about. Through this country runs old Big Creek which flows into the Brazos River. East of this Morrell home is the town of Marlin.

"Mr. W. T. Fannin came to the Ridge in 1875 and bought the Moffett home; later it was sold to the Blairs. On the Ridge, southwest of the Moffett home was the home of the Prices. W. A. Price, Junior, a son of the pioneer lives in the old Price home today. {Begin page no. 6}In 1882, Dr. and Mrs. J. C. Shaw came to the Ridge to live and settled east of the Price home. Dr. Shaw served fifteen months in the Alabama Calvary of the Confederate Army. He was a native of Alabama and his wife, Miss Nannie Sypart, was a Tennessean. Dr. Shaw practiced on the Ridge for many years, then moved to Marlin, where he died. His son, Dr. Frank Shaw succeeded him in his practice.

"About a mile south of the Stranger store, [?] Rogers and John Marlin settled a few years after the battle of San Jacinto. The Rogers family settled on the Ridge, while the Marlin family settled at a place known as [?], a few miles south of the present town of Marlin. The Rogers and the Merlin families came from Tennessee, following the footsteps of Sam Houston.

"The Kay home and store were built where old Mrs. Gertrude Hancock lived and was south east of Stranger. Mr. Kay was a farmer and devoted church worker. He organized the first Sunday School at Stranger and was superintendent until his death. He was an un-official post master before the rural mail service was established. On business trips to Kosse, he would call for the people's mail and bring it to his store, where they came to get it. Mrs. Kays' son, by a former marriage, was Hollman Hancock. He married Miss Gertrude Garrett, daughter of the pioneer family of Garrets, of Blue Ridge. [?], Sanford Hancock, still owns and operates the store at Stranger on the Ridge.

"It is difficult to give the dividing line between Stranger and the Reagan community. The Stranger community on the Ridge can be seen for miles from the Waco-Marlin state highway. In fair weather, there is always a deep blue atmosphere over it, hence the name of Blue Ridge. The old Hunnicutt home stands overlooking the valley on the Ridge stands today just as it stood when Winfield Scott Hunnicutt located {Begin page no. 7}there in 1849. Additions have been made to the house and the logs covered with weather-boarding lumber. Two of his sons still live in the old house.

"You may stand on the Ridge and look westward where you can see the broad valley as it abruptly drops down below you with a ravine between the Ridge and the valley. Farms, farm houses and the green woods of Big Creek, dot this valley. In the fall of the year cotton pickers can be seen swinging to and fro, gathering the fleecy staple. Tall trees, sloping hill and beautiful prairies form a never-to-be-forgotten picture. About ten miles to the west can be seen the tops of buildings in Marlin, and a few miles beyond Marlin, one can see the trees which border the Brazos River.

"The Ridge gradually slopes south west to the little town of Reagan. Here is a small creek, named Salt Branch and on its banks many of the early settlers sleep the last sleep, unmindful of the changes wrought by Father Times since they came, in their ambition to build new homes, to the new state of Texas.

"To the east, lies the town of Kosse, where the Houston and Texas Central Railroad came through in the seventies. Some of the early Ridge settlers moved over to Kosse for the benefit of the railroad facilities. Among them was Dr. Toland, who came to the Ridge as a young doctor. He, like Dr. Poindexter, boarded at Granny William's. They could tell many a story of those early days. I remember one story that they loved to tell. All the people met at the little church to pray for rain. One woman came with her coat and umbrella, prepared for an answer to their prayers. They brought their lunch and spent the day. Alone in the afternoon, the sky [?] over-cast and by late afternoon, it began to rain and what a rain fell! It rained so hard that all the creeks got out of banks and the crowd {Begin page no. 8}had to spend the night in the little school-church house and they spent the night giving thanks for their answer to prayer. But only one came prepared for an answer to their prayers. It was one of the oldest members of the flock and she declared that in time gone by, the way to receive an answer to prayer, was to have the faith to be ready for it.

"The Pools and the Bells were other families whose names are indelibly written into the history of the Blue Ridge settlement. The Bell family came from Tennessee in the [?]; they had a large family and took an active part in the affairs of the community. Two sons served in the Civil War and one had lost his life in the war with Mexico, along with fifteen other men from [?] county. Other prominent early families were the Arnetts, Mayes, Herron, Nichols, Vann, Hickman, Darden, [?], Saxon, Clawson and many others who lived farther south on the Ridge. About 1870, two single men came from Tennessee; they were Henry Clay [Cowan?] and Jim Owens. Mr. Cowan married Miss Laura Wyche, who was teaching school near Bremond. She was a daughter of Dr. George Wyche who settled in the settlement known so Bedias, near Anderson, Texas, in the days before the Civil War. Jim Owens married Miss Betty Robertson, who came from a large family who lived on the lower Ridge. The Owenses made their home at Reagan, where they reared a family. The Cowan family, with others from the Ridge, moved in the early seventies to what was then known as Willow Springs, and is now the town of Mart.

BLUE RIDGE ESTABLISHED 1854

A post office was established at Blue Ridge in 1854 and discontinued in 1857. Part of the Blue Ridge community was known as Harlanville for a number of years.

Blue Ridge had a school system up until 1948 when it was annexed by the Marlin Independent School District.

Blue Ridge Elementary School Class, Around 1937
This picture, curtesy of Beverly Ann Stone, includes her father, George Cousins Stone Jr., and his brothers Charles Amos Stone, and Clyde Wilber Stone.

This couple was married in the Blue Ridge area in the 1870's! James Knox Polk Poindexter b. March 01, 1841 in TN and d. January 08, 1924 in TX. He married Sarah Elizabeth Robinson September 24, 1871 in Blue Ridge, Falls Co., TX.

OLD COBB HOUSE

Beverly Ann Stone also shared her father's story about the Old Cobb house during the Civil war. It had just been finished as the Civil War began. There was a skirmish near by called the Battle of Jack's Creek (also called Rocky Creek)
(Thirty-Sixth Texas Cavalry). The people took the second layer of boards off the kitchen walls of the Cobb house to use as Coffin material for the six Confederate soldiers killed. They didn't put the union Soldiers in coffins. Until 2001, these walls had never been refinished to their original condition and the house was unpainted.

Received the following letter from Charles Curry (ccurry@vt.edu), a former Reagonite:

"After consulting the “Families of Falls County (p.306), I
believe that this is
the story on the Cobb House at Blue Ridge. It was built
by John Sanford
Millerman and his wife Mary Harlan. They raised eleven
children.

One of the
daughters, Sarah, married Benjamin Franklin Cornelison,
and then Levi Waddell
Kelly. Most of the children of this marriage, you have
heard of:

Tom, Jess,
Dean, Charles, Claude (a daughter of Claude’s Essye Kelly
married Charles
Kinard, another daughter was Audrene, & a brother Homer
Zay), Oscar (my
grandfather), Roscoe, Sanford, Mae, Levi enlisted in the
CSA at Bachelor’s
Retreat S.C. in June, 1861. He served as a Private, Co. F
(Infantry),
McGowen’s Brigade, A.P. Hill’s Division, T.J. Jackson’s
Corp, Army of
Northern Virginia. He was wounded twice, lost three
fingers, and suffered from
a leg wound until his death.

The house became the Cobb residence when the last
daughter of John Sanford
Millerman and Mary Harlan married Robert Long Cobb.

It is my understanding that many of the solders from
Falls & Robertson County
served in Virginia and were stationed from Yorktown to
Fredrickburg Va."

Charles

Confederate soldiers Buried in the Blue Ridge Cemetery

The following confederate soldiers are listed as buried in the Blue Ridge cemetery:

Blue Ridge Cemetery Listing

Blue Ridge Baptist ChurchBlue Ridge Cemetery.

The Blue Ridge Cemetery, located adjacent to the Blue Ridge Baptist Church, is the final resting place for a large number of people that helped build Texas into a great state and defended Texas in the Texas Revolution, Civil War and both World Wars. As I worked through this list, I discovered a great number of friends and teachers that I knew as a young boy.

BURNEY, Ellen C 1851

The following Chamberlin/Chamberlain/Aldridge updates curtesy of Jim Dixon (docdixon@cox.net).

Alexander Hunter and Temperance Killingsworth Aldridge Chamberlin. Alexander Hunter Chamberlin was born July 4, 1818
in Abbeville District, South Carolina and died on February 13, 1883. He married
Temperance Killingsworth Aldridge on July 25, 1844 in Autauga County, Alabama.
Temperance Killingsworth Aldridge Chamberlin was born on 05 May, 1827 in Choctaw County, Mississippi, the
daughter of William Killingsworth and Martha (Ghiberta) Aldridge. She had two sisters, Mary Aldridge and
Cornelia Aldridge. Temperance Killingsworth Aldridge Chamberlin died on 08 January, 1862 (About one month after the death of her youngest daughter. She is buried in an
unmarked grave on the family property, next to her youngest daughter)
near Alto Springs, Falls County, Texas.
The children of Alexander and Temperance Chamberlin include:
William Alonzo Chamberlin, born 01 October 1845; died 15 March, 1864
Angelo Ghiberta Chamberlain, born on 01 October 1847; died 14 May 1923. Angelo Ghiberta Chamberlin was the second child of Alexander Hunter and Temperance Killingsworth (Aldridge) Chamberlin. He was named for his maternal grandmother's family, Martha (Ghiberta) Aldridge, who was the daughter of Angelo and Lucinda (Oliver) Ghiberta.
Francis ("Fannie") Tucker Chamberlain, born on May 30,1849; died 02 Nov 1934 .
Margaret Lucinda Chamberlain, born 23 June 1854; died on 19 July 1940.
Sam Houston Chamberlain; born 19 Feb 1856; died 14 March 1935.
Mary ("Mollie") Elizabeth Chamberlain; born on 16 July 1859; died on 21 Feb, 1942.
Martha Elizabeth Chamberlin; born 16 April 1861; died December 6, 1861 in the Blue Ridge Community, Falls County, Texas.

CHAMBERLIN FAMILY: Originally spelled, in England, "CHAMBERLAINE" and CHAMBERLAYNE". After immigrating to the English Colonies in America, the spelling was changed to "CHAMBERLAIN" and later to "CHAMBERLIN". The latter spelling version was used until after the death of ALEXANDER HUNTER CHAMBERLIN, when his children changed the spelling to "CHAMBERLAIN" again, the spelling version that has been used all of his subsequent direct descendents.

George Harlan, born February 2, 1835, in Robertson's Colony, State of Coahuila, Mexico in the area which became Falls County, Texas; died December 30, 1919, at Blue Ridge, Falls County, Texas and buried in the Blue Ridge Cemetery ; was the youngest surviving son of Dr. Isaiah and Nancy (Henry) Harlan, who came to Mexico-Texas in the fall of 1834. George was born only eighteen days before his father received a grant of la league of land on February 20, 1835, at Viesca ; seat of government of Empressario Sterling Clack Robertson's Colony.

On July 25, 1859, in Montgomery County, Texas, George Harlan was married to Pauline Jane McCaleb, b November 5, 1830 in Tennessee, d November 30, 1889 and buried in Blue Ridge Cemetery;a daughter of Zill Harrington and Mary Elizabeth (Martin) McCaleb, natives of Tennessee who settled first in Montgomery County, Texas and later Blue Ridge in Falls County, where both died and were buried.

George Harlan enlisted in the Confederate States Army in Montgomery County, Texas ; serving throughout the Civil War as a Private in Company K, 20th Texas Cavalry, and served until the conclusion of the war.

At the end of the Civil War, George returned to Montgomery County, Texas, where he and his family loved until about 1867, when they settled at Blue Ridge in Falls County, Texas on his portion of land inherited from his parents; a part of the league granted to Dr. Isaiah Harlan in 1835. In 1859, George had conveyed twenty-eight acres, formerly a part of the inherited portion of his sister, Mrs. Memnon A. (Martha Harlan) Mitchell, from their father. In 1872, George re-recorded the transfer o the twenty-eight acres to the Trustees of the Blue Ridge Baptist Church, for school, church and cemetery purposes, as a number of graves were already located there while it was still a part of the Mitchell land.

George and Pauline Jane (McCaleb) Harlan were the parents of five children:

Zill Isaiah Harlan, b July 24, 1860 in Montgomery County, Texas, d July 25, 1911 in Marlin, Falls County, Texas and buried in Calvary Cemetery -- married September 21, 1884 to Maude Graves, b September 5, 1867 in Alvarado, Johnson County, Texas, d August 11, 1960 and buried in Calvary Cemetery.

George McCaleb Harlan, b September 14, 1862 in Montgomery County, Texas, d September 30, 1880. His arm was severed in a gin accident, and he bled to death before medical assistance could be obtained. He was not married, and was buried in Blue Ridge Cemetery.

Charles Harlan, b April 4, 1869 at Blue Ridge, Falls County, Texas, d November 27, 1945 and buried in Blue Ridge Cemetery -- married December 25, 1889 in Falls County to Cynthia Tallulah Varnado (called "Lula"), b November 7, 1872 in Mississippi, d April 12, 1954 and buried in Blue Ridge Cemetery -- a daughter of Cornelius Willington and Mary Elizabeth ("Betsy" Ratcliff) Varnado, who settled in the Stranger Community of Falls County, Texas about 1887.

After Pauline Jane (McCaleb) Harlan died, George married second to Maggie Densman, b July 20, 1849, d May 15, 1933. They had no children, and she was buried at Blue Ridge Cemetery when she died. She received a pension for George's Civil War services after his death, until she died.

There are many descendants of George and Pauline Jane (McCaleb) Harlan who continue to reside in Falls County, Texas, including such family names as Bartlett, Harlan, Erskine, Shaw, Norton, Sehon, Sprott, Windsor, and others.